Submarine stabilization

ABSTRACT

The sail or mast of a submarine is provided with means to overcome the tendency of the submarine to roll as a consequence of wave action, heaving and during turns. Submarine stabilization is preferably accomplished by means of a plurality of rudders at the trailing edge of the sail. The upper rudders provide the force required to compensate for roll, but introduce a steering component. The lower rudders turn in the opposed direction to about an equal degree to cancel out the steering component introduced by the upper rudder. Rudder compensation for roll may be augmented or supplanted by the use of fluid ejection ports vertically disposed along the port and starboard sides of the sail in the vicinity of the trailing edge of the sail.

United States Patent [191 Schirtzinger 1 1 SUBMARINE STABILIZATION [75] Inventor: Joseph F. Schirtzinger, Pasadena,

Calif.

[73] Assignee: Air Logistics Corporation,

Pasedena, Calif.

[22] Filed: Nov. 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 194,753

[52] US. Cl. 114/16 R, 114/122 [51] Int. Cl. B63g 8/16, B63g 8/18 [58] Field of Search 114/16 R, 122,39, 126, 114/151; 115/12, 12 A; 244/91 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D188.013 5/1960 Gongwer et al 114/16 R 2,858,788 11/1958 Lyman 114/39 2.960.958 11/1960 Doulgheridis... 114/151 3.122.121 2/1964 Krauth 114/151 2.412.825 12/1946 McCo11um.. 115/12 A 2.120.065 6/1938 De Rouge 244/91 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 402.450 3/1943 Italy 114/16 R Primary Examiner-Duane A. Reger Assistant Examiner-Galen L. Barefoot Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Christie, Parker & Hale [57] ABSTRACT The sail or mast of a submarine is provided with means to overcome the tendency of the submarine to roll as a consequence of wave action, heaving and during turns. Submarine stabilization is preferably accomplished by means of a plurality of rudders at the trailing edge of the sail. The upper rudders provide the force required to compensate for roll, but introduce a steering component. The lower rudders turn in the opposed direction to about an equal degree to cancel out the steering component introduced by the upper rudder. Rudder compensation for roll may be augmented or supplanted by the use of fluid ejection ports vertically disposed along the port and starboard sides of the sail in the vicinity of the trailing edge of the sail.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEUHAR 1 9 m4 3 797,433

sum 1 or 2 INVENTORQ JaEP/l A lW/EfZ/MGEE aamyizww PATENTEDHAR \9 I974 3. 797,433

SHEET 2 [If 2 v SUBMARINE STABILIZATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The lateral surface area of the sail or mast of a submarine, whcn running submerged or snorkeling just below the surface, is affected by any lateral forces whose action tends to induce roll about the center line of the submarine. This may be due to simple wave action heaves or to roll forces induced when sharp turns are made.

In maneuvering of submarines, there is an obvious operating advantage in maintaining a substantial even keel. This becomes of even greater importance when the submarine is operating in ice clogged areas or where a portion of the snorkeling sail is used as an ice cutter or breaker.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a system and method to retard or prevent roll in submarines to aid in maintaining a submarine on an even keel.

One system employs a plurality of stabilizing rudders pivotably positioned at the trailing edge of the submarine sail, the rudders being operated independently, or in conjunction with the main rudders of the submarine or by independent automatic control from a gyroscopic or inertial device.

A rudder or series of rudders are provided along the trailing edge of the sail at a point farther from the ships center line to compensate for roll. Turning of the rudder er rudders, in compensating for roll, however, induces a steering component. A rudder, or rudders, on

. the lower portion of the sail and closer to theeenter line rotate in the opposed direction to approximately an equal degree to cancel out or compensate for the steering component introduced by the action of the uppermost rudder or rudders.

In the alternative, or in conjunction with the use of rudders, there may be employed a fluid ejection system which ejects a fluid under pressure in a controlled amount in opposed directions from the top level as well as the lower level of the sail, to provide force vectors to control both roll and compensate for the steering components.

THE DRAWING FIG. 1 illustrates the submarine stabilization system, illustrating the operation of a rudder system along the trailing edge of the sail used alone or in conjunction with fluid ejection ports to compensate for roll and overcome induced steering components.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the alternate embodiment in which fluid ejection jets, alone, are used in the sail to compensate for roll and overcome the steering component introduced when roll is compensated for.

DESCRIPTION According to the present invention there is provided a system for stabilizing submarines against roll.

The preferred system employs a plurality of rudders pivotably attached to the trailing edge of the submarine sail. The uppermost rudder, or rudders, are rotated in the direction of the roll to provide a resistant force vector which prevents or retards roll of the submarine. This, however, introduces a steering component.

To compensate for this, a rudder, or rudders, located at the lower portion of the sail and closer to the submarine center line of the vessel rotate to provide a counteracting force to cancel the steering component introduced by the uppermost rudder or rudders.

The action of the rudders may be augmented by jets of fluid, normally the exhaust gases from the submarine or sea water, which are pumped through ports positioned along the port and starboard sides of the vertically disposed sail to act in cooperation with the rudders to compensate for roll and cancel steer components.

In the alternative, the rudders may be supplanted by the controlled, high pressure fluid jets, again preferably using exhaust gas or sea water as the fluid medium.

With reference just to FIG. 1, submarine 10 comprises a hull containing all of the essential constituents for operation, a sail 14 which may contain at least a vent system (not shown) for the hull l2, and a tower 16 which is used when the submarine is in semi-submerged or in a fully surfaced condition. As a functional part of the submarine, the submarine includes rudders l8 and 20, stabilizing fins 22, and a propulsion system 24 which may be twin screw propellers, as illustrated, or thrust jets, driven or powered by any conventional means.

Also included are diving vanes: 26 which are employed alone or in conjunction with ballast chambers to induce the submarine to dive or to raise the submarine, depending upon the vane and ballast combination selected. There may also be included navigational aids such as frontal, rearward, lateral, upper and lower sonar devices 30. To monitor undersea conditions, there maybe included front lights 32 operated in conjunction with TV cameras 34. As further navigational aids, tower 16 may be provided with a radar mast 40 as well as with antennas and other detection systems (not shown).

A portion of the hull may be provided with a resilient protective bumper 42 for operation in ice conditions to protect the hull should the submarine come to rest against the under-surface of the ice.

In the normal operation of a submarine, turning can be achieved through the use of the rudders l8 and 20, and/or the propulsion system, the latter inducing a turn moment by varying the speed of one propeller relative to the other. Nonnally, in a turn, rudder action can be used to control the tendency to roll except where fairly sharp turns are made.

However, even in normal operation there isa tendency for a roll to be introduced by lateral tide, heave or wave actions on the large lateral surface area provided by the sail positioned above the submarine center line There are provided, therefore, in accordance with this invention, systems to overcome the tendency of the submarine to roll as a consequence of lateral forces operating on the sail.

One system provided includes a plurality of pivotably mounted rudders located along the trailing edge of the sail, the rudders being spaced along the sail at different distances from the longitudinal axis (Q) of the submarine.

Although any number of rudders may be provided, there is shown for simplicity the use of two rudders, namely, rudder 44 and rudder 46.

To compensate, for instance, for a starboard roll, rudder 44, which is positioned farthest from the longitudinal axis (Q) of the submarine, is rotated in the direction of the roll. While each of rudders 44 and 46 may have equal lateral forces, rudder 44 has the longer moment arm in relation to the longitudinal axis (Q) of the submarine and produces the greatest effect in controlling roll of the submarine about its axis.

While rudder 44 provides a large moment arm to counteract roll, it also induces a steer component. Rudder 46, therefore, is rotated in the opposed direction, normally to an equal degree, to cancel the steer component introduced by rotation of rudder 44.

Rudder 46 has the least effect upon roll, since it has a short moment arm, being closest to the longitudinal axis (Q) of the submarine.

In operation, rudders 44 and 46 may be operated independently, or in conjunction with rudders l8 and 20. Alternately, rudders 44 and 46 may be operated manually, or by an automatic control from a gyroscopic or other inertial device, to adjust the angle of rotation of rudders 44 and 46 to dampen the tendency of the submarine to roll.

To aid the operation of rudders 44 and 56, there may be provided port side fluid ejection ports 48, 50, 52 and 54 with mating ports on the opposed or starboard side of sail l4. Ejection ports 48 and/or 50 may be used in conjunction with the rudder 44 to aid in controlling roll while ports 52 and 54 compensate for steering force introduced by rudder 44.

These ports are operated by providing a high pressure flow jet of fluid in a controlled direction from the sail for roll and/or steer control. When a gas is used as the fluid, there may be conveniently supplied a gas exhaust from the motive or exhaust system of the submarine. Where a liquid is used, it may conveniently be sea water pumped from the base or underside of submarine to control ports 48 to 54, and their starboard mates on the opposed side of sail 14 will discharge a fluid jet to control roll and compensate for steer.

While only two rudders and eight ports (four of which are illustrated) have been described, it will be well understood by one skilled in the art that any number of rudders or ports may be employed to produce the stabilizing effect to compensate for roll while employing opposed forces to compensate for any steer component.v The degree of turn of any rudder may be varied depending on the extent of roll to be compensated for with the uppermost and lowermost rudders being normally rotated to the greatest degree. The same principle applies for the amount of fluid ejected through the ejection ports.

With reference now to FIG. 2, there is shown a submarine of identical characteristics as shown in FIG. 1 except where fluid system ports 48 and 50, 52 and 54 and their companion ports on the starboard side of the sail are used in place of rudders to compensate for roll and steer. Again, when a starboard roll is induced, a fluid, again normally the exhaust gases from the submarine or sea water, is forced through companions of starboard ports 48 and/or 50 to create controlled high pressure jets of the selected fluid which compensate for roll, which again may induce a steer component. To compensate for the steer, the portside ports 52 and/or 54 provide opposing jets 58 to cancel out steer component.

As indicated above, rudders when used are pivotably mounted at the trailing edge of the sail and are aligned with the center plane of the sail when no roll is to be compensated for. This is their neutral position. When pivoted for roll compensation, they are driven in either the starboard or port direction depending on the degree of the roll, by any conventional means such as screw drives, gear drives, hydraulic drives and the like. Response times should be rapid.

Likewise, ejection ports, when employed, are inactivated when there is no roll to compensate for. Each port or companion pair of ports may be supplied by a single fluid supply conduit. Where the ports are individually supplied by a conduit, the flow of fluid through the port may be controlled by a butterfly valve or the like. Where a pair of companion eject ports located at an equal distance from the center line of the submarine are serviced by a single conduit, there may be employed a pivotable flap valve which determines the port through which the fluid will flow.

While the sail 14 of the submarine illustrated in both FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 has been shown to have a fairly conventional bow, there may be provided an ice breaking edge for operation when the submarine is operating under ice-bound conditions. In the alternative, there may be provided a plurality of ice cutters mounted on a pair of parallel shafts at the forward end of sail 14, each cutter provided with ice chipping or cutting teeth such as those described in US. Pat. No. 3,468,277 to Rosner et al. The shafts rotate in opposed directions to chip ice away from the sail. When the ice cutter or chipper is employed, the forward end of sail 14 is preferably coated with an elastomeric material to prevent damage to the sail by action by flying chips of ice.

When provided with ice cutter, the submarine may cut its own path through the ice, and when turns are made, the necessity for maintaining the submarine on an even keel is even more greatly amplified and employment of the stabilization system of this invention becomes far more crucial. This is because when roll is allowed to occur, the ice on the sides of the path cut can have a serious damaging effect upon sail 14.

What is claimed is:

l. A system for stabilizing submarines against roll which comprises a plurality of rudders pivotably positioned along the vertical trailing edge of a submarine sail, the uppermost rudders adapted to be rotated in the direction of the roll to compensate for roll and the lowermost rudders adapted to be rotated in an opposed direction to cancel any steer component introduced by rotation of the uppermost rudders, said rudders being operated in combination with a plurality of fluid ejection ports positioned vertically along the port and starboard sides of the sail, the uppermost ports adapted to eject a fluid in the direction of the roll and the lowermost ports adapted to eject a fluid in an opposed direction to compensate for steer.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which there is employed a pair of rudders, one rudder of which is pivotably positioned at the upper end of the trailing edge of the vertical sail and the other rudder being positioned at the lower end of the trailing edge of the sail.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the fluid ejected is submarine exhaust gases.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the fluid ejected is sea water.

5 6 5. A system for stabilizing submarines against roll duced by ejection of fluid from the uppermost ports. which Comprises a plurality of fluid election Prts 6. A system as claimed in claim .5 in which the fluid posed along the port and starboard sides of the sail of a submarine, the uppermost fluid ejection ports adapted to eject a fluid in the direction of roll and the D lowermost ports adapted to eject a fluid in an opposed elected Sea waterdirection to compensate for any steer component introejected is submarine exhaust gases.

7. A system as claimed in claim 5 in which the fluid 

1. A system for stabilizing submarines against roll which comprises a plurality of rudders pivotably positioned along the vertical trailing edge of a submarine sail, the uppermost rudders adapted to be rotated in the direction of the roll to compensate for roll and the lowermost rudders adapted to be rotated in an opposed direction to cancel any steer component introduced by rotation of the uppermost rudders, said rudders being operated in combination with a plurality of fluid ejection ports positioned vertically along the port and starboard sides of the sail, the uppermost ports adapted to eject a fluid in the direction of the roll and the lowermost ports adapted to eject a fluid in an opposed direction to compensate for steer.
 2. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which there is employed a pair of rudders, one rudder of which is pivotably positioned at the upper end of the trailing edge of the vertical sail and the other rudder being positioned at the lower end of the trailing edge of the sail.
 3. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the fluid ejected is submarine exhaust gases.
 4. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the fluid ejected is sea water.
 5. A system for stabilizing submarines against roll which comprises a plurality of fluid ejection ports disposed along the port and starboard sides of the sail of a submarine, the uppermost fluid ejection ports adapted to eject a fluid in the direction of roll and the lowermost ports adapted to eject a fluid in an opposed direction to compensate for any steer component introduced by ejection of fluid from the uppermost ports.
 6. A system as claimed in claim 5 in which the fluid ejected is submarine exhaust gases.
 7. A system as claimed in claim 5 in which the fluid ejected is sea water. 